LABEL LIE: Why your beef may NOT be grass-fed at all
Each time you invest more money to buy healthier beef, there’s a chance that you end up getting less quality than what you paid for.
But thankfully, my friend Nick Pineault, AKA “The Nutrition Nerdâ€has figured it all for you. Here’s what you need to know…
How To Make Sure Your Grass-Fed Beef Is In Fact Grass-Fed
By: Nick Pineault
Creator and Author of The Truth About Fat Burning Foods
You probably already know that grass-fed beef has nothing to do with its feedlot-raised, grain-fed cousin that’s sold in supermarkets on the nutritional side.
In fact, grass-fed beef contains 2 to 4 times more omega-3(essential fatty acids), 4 times more vitamin A and E, a lotmore conjugated linoleic acid/CLA (a natural fat burner), andless fat and calories per pound than regular grain-fed beefyou buy at the supermarket.
Grass-fed animals are considerably healthier than grain-fed ones, which means that farmers don’t have to use part of the 15 million pounds of antibiotics used on grain-fed cattle just to prevent them from getting sick.
Obviously, buying quality meat becomes a great idea to improve your own health and support local farms that care about animals.
So what label claim do you look for at your local Whole Foods to find grass-fed beef?
Turns out it’s really not that clear.
In the last couple of years, the labeling regulations have changed quite a lot in the beef industry. But of course, very few customers know that.
Nowadays, manufacturers are able to sell grass-fed beef that has been “grain-finished†as 100% grass-fed beef.
The problem is: some farmers will feed their cattle grass for most of their lifespan, but “finishâ€them with grains in the last months before sending them to the slaughterhouse.
Because the last 90 to 160 days of diet determine how much nutrition your big,juicy steak will contain, this process removes any benefits the initial grass diet mighthave had.
The bottom line: your beef needs to be both grass-fed and grass-finished to contain all the nutrition it’s supposed to.
But because those claims are still not regulated by the USDA, your best insurance is to develop a relationship with a farmer that raises beef the right way.
This will give you confidence that you’re buying the right kind.
In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more SHOCKING truths about “healthy†foods in your pantry, my buddy Nick Pineault gives you some awesome tips here: